New Nashville ice rink to use ammonia

A new ice rink slated to open in six months’ time in Nashville, Tennessee will use a cooling system based on natural refrigerant ammonia. The first event to be held at the facility will be a rookie hockey tournament on 7 September.

The system will be installed by Canadian firm CIMCO and will use ammonia as the refrigerant. The ammonia (NH₃) cools calcium chloride (CaCl₂) which is used as a secondary brine. The total refrigeration capacity is 200 tons of refrigeration (TR). 

The foundations of the rink have already been built. Construction continues on the site.

The client first considered synthetic HFCs, but economic and environmental incentives swung the decision in favour of NH₃. CIMCO calculated the energy savings to be 32% with the ammonia system compared to the HFC system. The NH₃ system pays for itself in just over nine years. 

The ice rink is 61m x 26m in surface area and the ice’s thickness will reach a maximum of 45cm. The air temperature at 1.2 m above the ice will not exceed 10°C at 40% humidity.